The Second
by Shadowy Figure 1
Summary: Found wounded and left for dead, Dragnier's newest citizen is an enigma. Who is he? Where is he from? And why was he at death's door when they found him? With each answer, more questions arise...
1. Chapter 1

SF#1-_Hey, I'm Shadowy Figure #1, and this is my first time posting something on here, so tell me what you think! You all know the drill ,I don't own Katt, Nina, Kay, Rand or anybody else from Breath of Fire2. I do, however, own Zach, so don't steal him from me! That's enough of that, now, on with the story!_

Katt treaded silently through the woods, her staff in hand. A Woren clanswoman, she was half tiger, and a very skilled fighter. She had heard that there had been shouts coming from this area the day before, so she had come to investigate. She suddenly came to a small clearing and nearly threw up at what she saw. It was like a slaughterhouse here. As she stepped into the clearing the smell of rotting flesh nearly knocked her down. Holding her breath, she knelt down and examined a nearby body. It wore the insignia of the Dark Phalanx, an infamous mercenary group. "What could have done this?" she muttered, noticing a body whose chest appeared to have exploded. She picked her way carefully through the carnage, making her way towards a huge tree in the middle of the field. Under it, she found a young man of about 25; amazingly, he was still living. "Must be Wyndian." she muttered, noticing his wings. Strange thing though; he had no feathers; Where they should have been, there was only scales and a bat-like film between the bones of his wings. She moved closer, and as she did so, she tripped over something. When she stood up, she realized that she was bleeding badly. She looked down, expecting to find a sword. Then she saw his feet.

He woke some time later. The first thing he saw was a white ceiling. He looked around and noticed several things at once; first, he saw that the only exit was guarded by two strong looking young men; second, he saw a black-winged Wyndian girl about his age asleep in a chair by the window. As soon as he tried to get up, she woke and rushed over to him. "Here, take this," she said handing him a glass of some foul-looking liquid." No, really," he said," I'm alright." "Take it!" she said, giving him a look that clearly said " Do it, or else!" He took it and downed it in one gulp." Can I go now?" She laughed, a clear, happy sound " You must be joking. You've only just woken up! You shouldn't even be alive." Her face grew serious " You know, it might not be safe for you to go out anyway." " Why not?" he asked. "Most of the town thinks you're some kind of demon. And it wouldn't help that you're not even dressed yet." She threw him some clothes, which he quickly put on. " By the way, what's your name?" " Nina". "Nina, huh? Well Nina, I owe you one. And Zachary de'Armone never forgets to repay a debt. Where are my things?" he asked. " O-over there." she said, surprised by the sudden change in the topic " Thanks." He strapped on the swords, and made his way to the door. " Wait!" she said. " We sent for a doctor a few minutes ago. At least let her check you over…." He whirled around. " What!" he said, the fear shining in his eyes. " I said I just sent for a doctor." He was breathing faster now. " I have to get out of here!" Then, they both heard it. Several voices were approaching the door. His eyes settled on the window. Nina instantly understood. " Wait!" she said " We're five stories up. Do you want to die?" He started running. " Hey, stop!" one of the guards yelled. He jumped.

For a moment, it was as if time had stopped. Then, everything started moving again. He crashed through the window, and utter chaos ensued. There was the crash of breaking glass, screams from people walking below, and shouts from the people outside the door. Nina raced to the window and got there in time to see people scatter to the left and right to get out of Zach's way. At the last possible second, he flipped his wings, slowing his descent to the ground, and hit the ground running, his clawed feet throwing up the earth as he sped off. The men nearby had mustered their courage, and now nearly two dozen of them were blocking his escape route. He sped straight towards the first group, leaping over them, whirling in midair, and kicking the nearest man into the rest of them sending them into a sprawling heap. He landed on his wings and flipped himself back upright, speeding off again. Now he had left everyone behind. Suddenly, out of nowhere, what appeared to be a rolling mountain of muscle knocked him off his feet. It was Rand, the biggest and strongest person any of them had ever seen. Zach flipped backwards and landed on his feet. " Easy now, buddy." Rand said." Just come on back to the ward and let Kay check you out." Zach watched him warily. Rand eyes flickered. Zach jumped up and Rand hurtled underneath him. He lashed out with a claw trying to knock Rand out. He connected, and Rand instantly reached around and, grabbing Zach by the leg, tried to throw him away from him. Zach grabbed Rand's arm, swung back around, and kicked him square in the chest and slammed him to the ground. By this time, Nina, Katt, and the others had caught up and were trying to pull him off Rand. He delivered a quick flurry of punches left, right and center, dislodging himself from the grasp of his attackers. " Stop!" Nina yelled worriedly," just let him go!" "SHADOWWALK!" Zach yelled and instantly disappeared. People stood up and looked around confusedly.  
" Where'd he go?"  
"I don't know."  
" He was just here!"  
"There he is!" someone shouted. Everyone looked. He had reappeared and was nearly 200 yards away now. As they watched, he leaped into a tree and then jumped, spread his wings and flew fast and close to the ground. No one could believe what they were seeing. Wyndians had lost their ability to fly centuries ago. " I'll handle this." Bleu, the ageless, half-serpent sorceress slithered forward. She started muttering under her breath." Acid Arrow!" A glowing green arrow streaked toward the target." NO!" Nina yelled. The missile hit him in the filmy place between his wing joints. As far away as they were, they could all hear his agonized scream clearly. He hit the ground and slid along on his side for nearly ten feet before coming to stop in a crumpled heap. The doctor Kay was the first person to reach him. Zach instantly recognized that she was the doctor he had been trying to flee. He was unable stand, so great was his pain, but he made a determined effort to crawl away from her, flapping the remaining wing uselessly. At first, everyone but Kay was scared to go near him, until at last Nina said, with an exasperated sigh," Oh honestly! Any fool can see that he's too weak to do anything." She held him steady while Kay administered a painkiller and sedative. Nina looked into his eyes, and saw that he was now weeping openly. " Please, just kill me," he whispered. Then, mercifully, he passed out.

For the moment, however, most of the townspeople were more concerned about Rand. "Really, I'm alright" he insisted. Bleu, meanwhile, was yelling that they should destroy the demon before he woke up and killed them all. Most of the other townspeople agreed, and soon only Kay and Nina were left trying to protect him. It seemed that they would succeed in discouraging the people when suddenly he groaned and rolled over in the dirt. This untimely movement nearly killed him; for the people started trying to get to him with renewed vigor. Surprisingly, it was Rand that saved him. " Everybody SHUT UP!" he shouted with all of the considerable volume he could muster. " Now, we're gonna take him back to the ward, and anyone who has a problem with it can deal with ME!"

Later, when the townspeople had dispersed, and Zach was more securely placed in his room, Nina asked Rand why he had stepped in. "Nina," he said," if he had wanted to kill me, then there would have been nothing anybody could have done to stop him." Nina stared at Rand, not sure she wanted to believe him." He wanted to escape," Rand continued," if he had wanted to, he would have killed us all in no time. He showed restraint and that deserves thanks." Nina still wasn't sure she believed Rand, but then, she didn't know about the carnage in the woods. Rand did, because he had carried Zach back to the town. He hadn't told anybody about this, but the sight gave him nightmares until the end of his days. So, he forgave Nina if she didn't believe him.

Zach was in the ward for nearly two weeks before he spoke again. Every day Nina came to visit him, but he completely ignored her, though she talked to him cheerily, trying to make him respond. Most of the townspeople sighed and shook their heads at this, worried that a princess would spend so much time with an obvious demon. However, they were unable to destroy him, since several of the town leaders refused to just have him killed when he had not caused them any real harm. In fact, the only one who really wanted him to be destroyed was Bleu, though some others were beginning to go along with her. " Good morning," she said cheerily, although it pained her to see him treated this way. Ever since his near escape, he had been bound, drugged, and held still by multiple spells, including a silence spell. Nina knew that he had completely thrown off the silence spell almost immediately, since she had put it on him herself, but since he showed no signs of trying to escape again, she told no one except Spar, a grassman, who was, next to her, Zach's most adamant defender. Nina had been surprised at first by the normally neutral grassman's enthusiasm. When she asked him why, however, Spar merely replied that, knowing what Zach was, he could not let him be destroyed. When Nina pressed him further, he just told her to ask Zach one day. She rambled, on telling Zach all about the events of the previous day, not leaving out a single detail. After some time, she stood up and said, " Now let's have a look at that wing of yours." Zach's wing had been mended by using magic to recreate the melted patch, but it had still had to be stitched back on. He quietly stretched the wing, and it took Nina several seconds before she realized that she hadn't lifted the binding spell. He had moved on his own! "H-how long have you been able to move? She asked." About a week." He replied quietly. Nina was amazed. She had sat here, every day, thinking he couldn't so much as twitch, and he could have killed her at any moment! " But he didn't, " she thought to herself. "He didn't run." An idea began to form in her head. "Stay here," she told him, running out of the room. She was so excited, that in her haste, she left the door ajar. He stared at the open door for a long time. Then, slowly, he got up, walked over to the door, and placed his hand on the handle. He closed the door, turned and went to lie back down.

Meanwhile, back at the main building, Nina was arguing vehemently with Bleu on Zach's behalf. "But Bleu, he could have escaped whenever he wanted to, but he didn't! That means that-" "It means that he is not only a demon, he's a stupid demon." Bleu argued. "Besides, did you see the way he attacked Rand? He barely escaped with his life." Several of the other townspeople started talking all at once, but the general gist was that they agreed with her. Something had to be done about the demon! "That's ain't true," Rand said." He DID attack me, but I already told Nina, if wanted to kill me, he would have."  
"Nonsense!" Bleu merely shrugged off Rand's statement, and continued on, saying " We should just kill him now, and be done with it!" Spar, who had until this time kept his silence, interrupted, asking," Why don't we just let him go? We can simply tell him that if he returns, he will be killed, and we can leave it at that." Bleu was nearly livid with rage. " What are you thinking? Of course he'll come back! But when he does, we might not be ready! And what then? We'll all be dead, that's what!"  
" Enough." With this one word, Chris, the Dragon clansman, and protector of the town, silenced the whole room. "This is what we shall do: we will give him his freedom: he may leave, or he may stay. He will be treated from this day forth just like any other person coming to Dragnier: until he does something that calls for otherwise, every person in this town will treat him with courtesy. All in favor raise your hands." When everyone had voted, the count stood: 59 for the release and humane treatment of the prisoner, and 17 called for his death; 6 of the townspeople, rather wisely, chose not to take sides: that way, whatever happened, they could not be blamed.  
" You're all insane!" Bleu screamed, magefire crackling through the air around her. Several of the townspeople nearest to her stepped back a few paces nervously. They had never seen Bleu lose control like this. " I will go along with you fools, but the first time he sets so much as one unholy toe out of line, I will kill him." With these dramatic words, she exited the room and returned to her lab, fuming over "those fools and their altruistic sense of honor".  
"Then it's agreed." Chris stood up." Nina, will you please go upstairs and release him from the spells?"  
" That's not necessary, " Nina said. " As I told you before, he's already managed to throw off the various bindings that we placed on him."  
"Well, In that case, go and tell him what has transpired here, and explain his options to him."  
"Alright." Nina ran up the stairs, hurrying to tell Zach the good news.

Even though he was now free, it was some time before Kay would allow him to leave his room, saying that his wing had not fully healed yet. Nina, in the meantime, was surprised at how much Zach's demeanor had changed. Where he had never spoken before, he was now constantly asking her questions, about herself, the other villagers, and, most especially, about what had happened in the world in general. Not just for the few weeks he had been in the infirmary, but for the last couple of YEARS. To Nina, he acted like a person who had not gotten any news for quite some time. For instance, he commented that he was surprised that there wasn't a Church to St. Eva in Dragnier.  
Nina simply could not believe that he had not heard: about how the church had been merely a front for the revival of the demon Death Evan, how Nina had gone with the Dragon clansman Ryu and his friends deep, deep underground and defeated him in the depths of the Infinity Dungeon, and how all the Dragons had returned from the ancient underground city of Dologany upon his defeat. Although he was surprised that Nina had helped in the destruction of this evil creature, he was not surprised to hear about the church's corruptness. " I was a member of the Resistance in Cotland for a while" he said "but then some other stuff came up and prevented my participation." When Nina questioned him about this, he merely changed the subject, or pretended that he had not heard. When Nina mentioned this to Rand, he merely shrugged it off, saying," I'm sure he'll talk when he's ready." Even with the aura of mystery that he kept around himself, Zach was still a great companion. He always had a funny or interesting story to tell, although these stories were always either based on some neutral subject or about fictional characters: after nearly a month, Nina still knew nearly nothing about him, not even the names of his friends or where his home was.  
Finally the day had come. Kay entered the room early that morning, and, after a quick check, announced that Zach had healed perfectly. " Come on Zach!" Nina said grabbing his arm, " I'll show you all around the village!" He came along quietly, obviously apprehensive about being surrounded by people that feared him.  
"Don't worry Zach," Nina said, "Dragnier is great: no matter where you come from, you're treated the same as everyone else. If anybody doesn't like it, then they're asked to leave."  
Zach said nothing, but all of his past experiences with " diverse communities" had been less than pleasant." All except one," he reminded himself," and it's gone now." With that thought, he walked out the door with Nina, and into the sunlight.


	2. Chapter 2

_You all know the drill; I don't own anyone from Breath of Fire. I do, however, own Luke and Zach, so-_

_Luke:" Hey! You don't own me! Who do you think you are? Hey, Zach, who is this guy?"_

_Right...ummm, like I was saying:Enjoy!_

Nina had been right, Zach had to admit, at least to some extent: although he heard none of the usual insults and such that he usually encountered, he did notice that most people were going to great lengths to avoid him. Zach was amused to see a perfectly nice-looking old lady swerve into a weapons store called HEKKELLER'S, whose sign proudly stated that its weapons would " kill demons dead", only to realize that she didn't really need a new broadsword once he had passed. Zach pointed this out to Nina, and was rewarded with a laugh. Even those brave enough to walk by him tensed up as they passed him, but Zach wasn't worried. He figured that he should enjoy himself while he could. These things never lasted.

When Nina went to get Zach from his room in the infirmary on the day of his release, she was shocked at the change in him. He had cut his hair, and was wearing creamy white pants with a blue vest, which had been cut to allow for his wings to stick out. Nina also noticed that his claws, which had been a dull brown before, had been cleaned and clipped, producing a deep, purplish-blue color, and had a bright, burnished look to them. The wicked talons, which had before been caked with dirt and grime, had been carefully cleaned, and each one was now a three-inch long, wicked hook. The wings also appeared to have been cleaned very carefully, and their color was the same as the claws. Nina just stared. She could hardly believe the transformation he had undergone. Zach, noticing her staring, said uncomfortably, "It's the shirt, right? I knew I shouldn't have…" "No, it's not that." Nina said quickly." Oh, good." Zach said, relieved. Then, Nina led him downstairs to begin his "grand tour" of the town.

Nina was upset. For the last several hours, she had led Zach through the town of Dragnier, showing and telling him everything there was to know about the city. And through it, all not a single soul had spoken to Zach. Everyone they passed avoided eye contact with them, and the few people that Nina waved at would quickly avert their eyes, hurrying on about their business. At first, Nina had been afraid that Zach would feel hurt, but this worry soon gave way to relief when he jokingly pointed out the lengths some people would go to in order to avoid him.  
They continued down the street, with Nina explaining everything to him as they walked." And over there is where the library is going to be," she said, pointing to a half-laid foundation and several piles of massive stones," and someday we might even have a magic school…"  
"Just a sec," Zach said, interrupting her. He rushed over to help a young man who was struggling with an especially large rock, helping him to place on the others that had been set for the foundation. " Thanks buddy." The man said wiping his face on a dirty handkerchief. "I'm all done here. Say, you ought to come help out sometime. We could always use the extra hand. I mean, Rand can't do everything, right?" He examined Zach for a second, then continued, "Hey you're the new guy, right? I'm gonna go wash up, but afterwards I'm free. You wanna go grab some grub at the main hall?"  
" Actually," Nina spoke up from the pile of stones from which she had watched the exchange," I was getting ready to show him the joining room."  
" O.K.," said the man, "maybe later then. By the way, the name's Luke." He offered his hand, and Zach shook it warmly" Zachary De'Armone", he replied, smiling." See you later then," Luke said, walking off.

" Well Zach, let's get going," Nina said brightly, inwardly happy that Zach seemed to have made at least one new friend. " O.K." Zach said, wiping the dirt from his hands.

" This, " Nina said grandly," is the Joining Room." Here, our town's resident shamans experiment with joining their powers with different people. Sometimes, the results are rather surprising…"  
As if on schedule, a door at the back of the large room swung open, and out came Rand, arguing with a pretty red-headed woman. Slightly behind them, an equally stunning girl with dark blue hair also emerged.  
" I'm not gonna try it again!" he said rather hotly. " If I've told you once, I've told you a thousand times: it HURTS!"  
"Now Rand," the girl said soothingly," you HAVE to try it again. After all, it's just like Granny says: familiarity between souls is the key to…" She trailed off, noticing Zach." Well, hel-lo." She said, looking Zach up and down " And where have you been hiding?" she said, walking over to Zach with one hand resting lightly on her hip. When Zach did not answer, she merely continued on. " Well in any case, now that you are here, why don't you come over to my place and…"  
Nina felt her face grow hot" That slut Sana!" she thought angrily. "What does she think she's…" Zach, who quickly turned his back on Sana, spreading his wings slightly to exclude her from the conversation, interrupted Nina's thoughts. " Actually, Nina and I were just getting ready to head over to get something to eat. Isn't that right Nina?" he asked, jolting Nina out of her thoughts." Wha- oh yes." she said uncertainly.  
" Great," he said with a smile, and together they left. Sana just sat there, stunned.

Meanwhile, Zach and Nina were making their way, along with most of the rest of the town, towards the huge central building. Nina was explaining to Zach how once a week, everyone in the town got together and ate a huge meal together. Somehow, this was supposed to promote togetherness between all the citizens of the town. Secretly, Zach doubted that this was an effective method, but he kept his doubts to himself. Suddenly he stopped dead in his tracks. Nina, noticing the horrified look on his face, followed his gaze, but saw nothing amiss. " What is it, Zach?" she asked hesitantly.  
" What are they thinking?" He muttered to himself.  
"Zach? What is it?" Nina repeated. " Why is that out in the open like this?" he demanded, pointing to an extremely old, extremely worn statue of a dragon on its haunches.  
" Oh, that?" Nina said." Its just an old statue of the Traveler's God…"  
"Traveler's God?" Zach repeated, his voice disbelieving." Traveler's God?" He just stared at her for a moment, then shook his head, saying to himself," I must fix this immediately," Nina, worried by his strange behavior, withheld further comment, and they entered the hall without delay.

Zach could hardly believe how many people had packed into the dining hall. Every available seat was now occupied by someone, chatting happily with his or her neighbor. What was more, they were not all human; rather, he saw members of nearly every clan he knew of represented by one or more chattering citizens. As soon as he and Nina entered, the nearest group of people stopped talking, nudging one another and throwing glances in his direction, whispering quickly to one another. Slowly, the whispering spread, and few people were left that weren't giving him all of their attention. Nervously, Zach entered, Nina at his side, suddenly aware in the silence of the audible clack of his clawed feet against the hard stone floor. " Zach! Hey, Zach over here!" Across the room, Luke stood up and waved for him to come over. " I saved you a spot!" Quickly, Zach hurried over to where Luke and a couple of other people were seated. Zach quickly noticed that this was the only area that wasn't packed; instead, there was a visible divide between Luke and his companions and the rest of the hall's occupants. " Hey Zach, are you gonna be O.K. here?"  
"Sure." Zach said with a quick smile." O.K." Nina walked back to where Katt and several other young ladies were sitting. Zach watched her go. " So Zach, how was the tour?" Luke asked with a grin.  
" She's great," Zach said with a smile.  
" Yeah," Luke said, nodding in agreement " she's always been real nice to me. Kinda surprising, really. Ya don't usually meet someone that pretty who's not a total snob."  
Another man, with an unpleasant smile, picked up where he left off" Yeah, man, how was it? I tell ya, you lucked out, gettin' to spend the whole day with a pretty piece like her…"

Nina was busy talking with Katt and several other girls. " What were you thinking? I mean, you can look at him and see that there's something weird about him..." said one the girls. Several of the other women at her table were nodding vigorously. " I mean, if I were you, I'd be scared to be alone with him. You never know what he might try to do to you."  
" You don't understand," Nina was saying." Zach isn't a bad guy. In fact, I think he's pretty nice."  
" Tell that to the Dark Phalanx." Katt muttered. " What did you say?" Nina demanded, her eyes flashing angrily. " Nothing!" Katt said innocently.  
" Hey everyone, I think our little princess is in love!" One of the girls said, laughing.  
"That's no surprise." Now Sana spoke up, her eyes glittering maliciously. " You might even say it's poetic in a way. Just a case of freak loving freak…"

Suddenly, the whole hall erupted in pandemonium. Zach launched himself across the table, yelling in the most colorful language imaginable. He then proceeded to thrash the man, who was yelling at the top of his lungs for help. Zach then picked the man up , and threw him onto the table, scattering even more food left and right. He then jumped right onto the table and continued pounding the man mercilessly. Several people ran to break up the fight, but suddenly an explosion, followed by the crash of dishes, distracted them. They turned, and were shocked to see Nina, with a look of fury upon her face and the remains of a spell glittering at her fingertips. She yelled something unintelligible, and Sana was sent flying again, this time landing in a large pot of soup. She raised her hands again, and was silenced by a Mute spell thrown by Bleu. Two young men then grabbed her by the arms to keep her from throwing herself bodily at Sana. At the same time, Rand and a couple of frogmen managed to get hold of Zach, who began thrashing around wildly, trying to get loose before finally giving up and letting himself be carried away. All in all, the dinner was a total disaster.

"I just don't know what to say," Chris said, shaking his head. Nina sat in a chair, staring at the ground and letting one foot swing slowly, looking for all the world like an errant schoolgirl caught out-of-bounds. Zach leaned back against the wall, looking slightly removed from it all. Around the room, the other village elders sat or stood, and most of them wore similar expressions to that of Chris, a mix of anger and disgust. " You, Nina, of all people, should be an example for others in the village. I'd have thought that someone of your background would know how to act civilized." He rounded on Zach. " And you. I'm beginning to think that perhaps we were mistaken in letting you stay. After only one day out of the sickbay, you found it necessary to hospitalize one of our most upstanding citizens.( Zach suppressed a snort of laughter.) " What do the two of you have to say?" Nina just stared at the floor, sensing that this was the safest route. Zach, however did not respond in the same way. He merely smiled, and said," Sorry, Chris. Won't happen again."  
" Won't happen again?" Bleu echoed, her voice disbelieving. " You stand there, in clothing we gave you, after assaulting an unarmed man in the middle of the Great Hall, and all you have to say is 'Sorry, won't happen again'? You should be on the floor, begging us not to throw you out!" Zach merely shrugged. " If it happens, it happens."  
"WHAT!" shrieked Bleu, her eyes widening with rage.  
" Bleu, please." Chris said, trying to restore quiet. " Zach," he said." Because you are new here, we will overlook this incident. However, I must remind both you and Nina that there are better ways to solve conflicts." He sat back in his chair, looking tired. "You may go."  
Nina and Zach walked out into the cool night air. Nina took a deep breath. " That was close, wasn't it, Zach?" He did not answer. " Zach?" Nina turned to Zach, but he was gone. " Where are you?" she called out, but she heard no reply, except for the sound of the wind in the trees. Puzzled, she turned about, peering into the darkness, but she saw no sign of Zach. Reluctantly, she turned and headed for her quarters.

Out of a cave on Mt Fubi, many sets of eyes watched the lone figure gazing out over the forest far below , its back turned to them. Glok Bigfang, chief of the goblins of the mountain, signaled for quiet to the sixty-odd goblins assembled behind him. The figure did not seem to have realized its peril. Glok grinned wolfishly, and gave the bloodstained blade of his axe a lick. Suddenly, he gave a blood-curdling shriek, and charged out, his scream being echoed by his followers as they surged after him, waving crude spears. Suddenly, the figure stood, and snapped its fingers. There, in its hands, a pale blue light shone, and the light formed a sword blade. The figure was among them then, slashing left and right. The charge faltered, then became a mass of confusion, as tiny goblins flew left and right, several of them being thrown right off the ledge. Roughly fifty of the goblins still fought, however, determined to bring down the lone warrior. The figure waved its hand, and shouted something incomprehensible. The goblin nearest Glok exploded, showering its neighbors with bloody entrails. Another charged forward, and was promptly sliced in half. Between kicks and slashes, the figure would point, and shout, and a goblin would explode. Soon, the goblins began retreating, most of them down the tunnels from whence they came, some running right off the cliffs in their fear, only to fall several hundred feat before splattering on to the rocks below. Those fleeing down the tunnels fared no better, however. As they ran, shrieking, for their holes, a thunderous roar stopped them in their tracks. Looking back, they had only a few seconds to register the wall of water bearing down on them, before they were swept away. Far below, their lifeless bodies were shot out of the lower caves with the force of cannons. Glok gazed at the blood and gore around him in a state of shock. Suddenly, he saw the monstrous, winged figure before him, raising its glowing blade. Glok threw himself at its feet.  
" Nono kill Glok!" He sobbed. " Me begood, alla time! Yousee, Yousee!" He groveled shamelessly, begging for his life. " Yoube master, tell Glok: Go! and Glok go! Hedo whatchyou say, allatime!" He looked up fearfully, in time to see the sword coming down. Then he knew only darkness.

The figure shook its head, as if coming out of a dream, and looked about. Seeing the horror around him, he ran and leapt from the cliff, soaring into the night.

Zach sat perched in a tree, sobbing uncontrollably into his bloodstained hands. He sat there, shaking, and let the dark, windy night comfort him.

Glok woke to a throbbing headache, confused as to why he was out on the cliff face. He felt his head, and winced as his finger touched the bloodied lump on the back of it. It all came back to him as he surveyed the carnage surrounding him. 'A new god had been born,' the superstitious goblin decided,' and he had killed Glok's tribe, then allowed Glok to live.Why?' Glok realized: he had been chosen. Glok had sworn servitude, and his new master had accepted. He knew what he had to do. He would carry the message to his people. And one day, all the goblins of the mountains would know the name of Darkwing, his god, and fear. The darkness swallowed him as he ambled off, muttering under his breath.


End file.
